Archive for February, 2012

It got there late. Not good form. Going to have to work on that. I had ten people present, which surpassed Luck’s numbers by two, so that was good. I couldn’t have asked for a more engaging audience. They were wonderful. Considering how many books they bought, I should kiss butt just a little bit. The questions they presented were insightful, and they were very attentive during my readings. Thanks for coming, guys! Enjoy reading the books!

Tonight is the first reading of the second book, and the second reading I’ve done in public ever. Am I nervous? Well, yah. I’m also really excited. They did a beautiful write up for me in both local papers, and I told everybody and their cousin about it, so I hope more than eight people show up, which is what I had at the last reading.

I sincerely wish I could be one of those people who can get up in front of strangers without any trepidation, and just charm them all into liking me and buy all my books. Alas, such is not the case. The very reason I even write to begin with is to hide in another world. I don’t feel comfortable having people know who I am.

When I read, I don’t often look up. I know this is bad. I need to engage the audience, which requires eye contact. Like most mid-westerners, I’ve been raised to believe that direct eye contact is rude. That’s why, when you see two old farmers hanging out after church and having a conversation, they are looking at the sidewalk. Only salesman and politicians make direct eye contact. I guess I have to admit I’m a salesman of sorts.

I’ve been told that I read too fast. That’s because I’m probably trying to get it over with.

But I understand the reasons for the reading. It’s a free sample of what you get with the books. My voice may sound like Fran” Drescher with a head cold, but I must be doing something right. When I read, I can hear (because I don’t look up enough) people grunting in affirmation, or laughing appropriately, or gasping when something exciting happens in the story. So my delivery can’t be too painful to experience. Must be the material.

Original Date: January 31st, 2012

I woke up this morning as I sometimes do (more often than I would like) with the litany of obligations sitting on my chest and gazing at me expectantly (or maybe I’m getting that mixed up the with cat). Admittedly, I do have a lot on my plate. Hey, who doesn’t? Most times I just get up and get on with it.

And then there are those wonderful days where I actually list all the things I need to, have to, and should get done, not necessarily in that order, and all I want to do is stay in bed, even though I can no longer sleep because I’m feeling guilty that I haven’t gotten up yet to start…something. The problem is, I’m not one of those organized people who long ago realized, the key to getting crap done is to tackle tasks systematically and set small goals. I’m a disorganized flake who has elevated procrastination to an art form and sets goals based on how ashamed of myself I will feel if said task isn’t completed on time.

At the moment I have two part time jobs, I help my husband with the book-keeping at his business, I’m SLOWLY renovating our new house, and-oh yeah, almost forgot- I’m writing a novel series. Ideally, I would like that list to start backwards. Guilt and procrastination are not helping in that regard.

The silly thing is that’s my life. That stuff on its own is not enough to make me hide from the world between the sheets. What my wonderful, evil brain does is break down all of those things into their smaller components and reminds me what time I’ve wasted NOT getting those smaller things done.

Since this blog is about the book-writing, let’s start there. As of this writing. I don’t have my blog live yet. It’s not linked to my author page yet. I have Book 2 proofed but I haven’t approved the proof yet. I need to book, oh-I-don’t-know, like dozens of venues to read my wonderful books in public and garner some buzz. So far I’ve had one reading. Eight people showed up. And my friend sent me a video of that reading and it’s not downloaded on the blog yet. Book 3 is only on page 16, I haven’t written in a few days and I should write everyday, and when I write I should always try to maintain good posture so that hump in my back doesn’t get any worse. I should really get up and do yoga. It would center me and then I wouldn’t be so overwhelmed and I’d be able to clear my thinking and write more and be more confident during readings that I haven’t booked yet…

That’s just the book stuff, which is at the back of the aforementioned list that dictates my life. I could bore you some more with the stuff at the new house that has taken weeks, not days. I could list all of the paperwork that is completely disorganized at the Hubby’s business because of the mortgage to get said house, meanwhile tax time is looming large in the very near future. One of my jobs is at a church, the natural habitat for guilt. The only thing on that list I really don’t worry about is the second part time job. Job #2 is a minimum wage job that is fairly easy to do and requires little thought on my part. It’s only that I really don’t like the job and could probably quit it if I could get the book thing to take off even a little….. And so it goes.

As a woman, there are of course the other things I heedlessly obsess over. I don’t exercise enough. I should have gone for a walk this morning. I like to hula-hoop. Haven’t done that in weeks. I used to complain I didn’t have a place to do it. I have a whole freakin’ house now. I should swim laps at the local pool. I should learn how to swim. I should get a swim suit. I should wax my bikini area so I can swim in public. I need a hair cut. My latest moisturizer is making my forehead break out. I should order that cute nightie and surprise the Hubby for Valentine’s day. My body looks like hell. I should exercise more. I should go for a walk….I think you get it.